allonlinenovel Chapter 671 Reuse
Chapter 671 Reuse
"boom!"
The shells exploded on the city walls of Rhône, sending bricks and mortar flying into the sky with the violent blast waves. Smoke and dust filled the air, obscuring the sunlight.
In the summer of 1464, the army of the Kingdom of Midland had already eliminated all the strongholds around the city of Rona. At this moment, they officially launched a siege on the most fortified city in the Rona territory occupied by the Yoda Empire.
Count Yuris stood on the makeshift command platform, his telescope never leaving the battlefield.
The banner behind him fluttered in the smoke of battle; it was a blue banner with a white dragon, symbolizing his most elite White Dragon Knights.
He watched as his own artillery positions rained shells down on the walls of Rhône, and the sturdy walls, under the baptism of steel and fire, finally succumbed and broke open with several huge breaches.
"Now! Order the standard-bearer to send the siege troops to attack!"
Count Yuris's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he immediately gave the order.
The Midland soldiers, who had been waiting in the rear for a long time, launched an attack from all four directions of the city wall like a tidal wave.
The soldiers carried ladders and pushed battering rams, rushing towards the breaches without regard for their own safety.
Each of their attacking directions was assigned a hundred-man squad from the White Dragon Knights.
These knights dismounted, clad in heavy armor, and wielding longswords and massive shields, forming a mobile steel wall at the head of the procession.
They were the sharpest blade in Count Yuris's hands, the most elite troops in the Kingdom of Midland. Their mission was to break into the city as quickly as possible and create a large enough opening for the subsequent infantry.
However, the defenders of Rona did not sit idly by. Under the command of their officers, the soldiers of the Yoda Empire quickly organized a counterattack.
The cannons on the city wall immediately changed direction and bombarded the Midland soldiers who had just rushed into the breach.
The shells exploded amidst the dense crowd, each blast claiming several, even dozens, of lives. The breach instantly transformed into a scene of carnage, with limbs and severed bodies flying everywhere, and blood staining the ruins of the city walls red.
What alarmed Count Yuris even more was that the Midland soldiers who had already stormed into the city were immediately met with fierce resistance from Yoda's soldiers.
The defenders used the complex terrain behind the city walls to set up barricades, firing and slashing at the Midland soldiers who broke in from all sides.
Although the knights of the White Dragon Knights were valiant, their advantages were greatly diminished in this narrow, urban warfare. They were firmly pinned down at the breach, unable to advance or retreat, and their casualty numbers were rising rapidly.
Count Yuris watched all of this from the command platform at the rear.
He saw his elite soldiers fall like wheat being harvested, and the knights of the White Dragon Knights struggling to hold on under the enemy's siege.
His face grew increasingly grim, his fists clenched so tightly that his nails almost dug into his flesh.
"Trash! They're all trash!"
He cursed under his breath, his eyes burning with fury.
He knew that if things continued like this, not only would he fail to capture the city, but he would also exhaust his elite troops.
He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and then made a difficult decision.
He slammed the binoculars shut and then threw them hard to the ground.
The brass telescope made a crisp sound as the lens shattered and parts flew everywhere.
"Give me the order!"
He practically roared the order.
"The attacking forces shall retreat immediately! After the infantry retreats, the artillery shall continue to bombard the defenders on the city walls!"
The messenger dared not delay in the slightest, and immediately mounted his horse to deliver Count Yuris's order.
Upon hearing the order to retreat, the Midland soldiers at the front felt as if they had been granted a pardon and turned to retreat to the rear.
The knights of the White Dragon Knights displayed exceptional discipline, fighting and retreating simultaneously, using their own bodies to cover the retreat of ordinary soldiers, and holding off the last wave of counterattack from the defenders before slowly withdrawing from the battlefield.
After the artillery reorganized and launched a fierce bombardment, temporarily suppressing the defenders on the city walls, the attacking forces finally withdrew safely to their own positions.
Count Yuris did not linger on the command platform. With a gloomy face, he strode into his command tent.
The heavy canvas curtain fell behind him, shutting out the noise and smoke outside the tent.
"Summon all the generals here!"
He roared at his personal guards outside the tent.
Soon, the main generals who participated in this siege gathered in the command tent.
Some of them still smelled of gunpowder, while others wore expressions of lingering fear.
Everyone knew that the siege had failed, and Count Yuris was furious; they were sure to get a scolding.
Count Yuris sat in the main seat, his gaze sweeping over everyone present. The atmosphere in the tent was so oppressive it seemed as if water could drip from it.
He had assumed that with the elite of his White Dragon Knights and the overwhelming superiority of the kingdom's army, taking this isolated city would be a piece of cake.
He had already begun to plan in his mind how to claim credit from His Majesty the King after capturing Rona, and how to firmly grasp this tremendous achievement in his own hands.
However, reality gave him a loud slap in the face.
"Everyone."
Count Yuris finally spoke, his voice low and suppressed.
"Our first siege failed. Tell me, what should we do next?"
His eyes held a hint of impatience, but also a hint of anticipation.
He hoped someone could come up with a perfect plan that would both capture the city and minimize the losses of his White Dragon Knights.
However, the tent fell into a deathly silence.
The generals looked at each other, and saw the difficulty and apprehension in each other's eyes.
The horrific scene of the siege was still vivid in everyone's mind. The tenacity and ferocity of the defenders exceeded everyone's expectations. This kind of situation could only be dealt with by slowly wearing them down, but Count Yuris was probably now looking for a strategy to take Rona City in a short time.
So if they offered their own suggestions, they would definitely be scolded and sent to some place in the rear to be in charge of logistics. They would not get any credit for the capture of Rona City, and their official positions would only get lower and lower.
Time ticked by, but no one dared to speak first.
Count Yuris's patience was wearing thin, and he was about to lose his temper when General Laban, sitting below him, finally cleared his throat and broke the silence.
"My Lord Count."
General Laban's voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet tent.
"In my opinion, a direct assault is unlikely to be effective. How about... we try a night raid?"
"Night attack?"
Count Yuris raised an eyebrow, signaling him to continue.
"Yes."
General Laban nodded and began to explain his plan.
"We can first order a small elite force to sneak up under the city walls under the cover of night. Then, at the agreed time, have our catapult troops hurl a large number of oil canisters into the city. The oil canisters hitting the houses will inevitably cause a fire. When the defenders inside the city see the fire, they will panic and scatter their troops to fight the fire, thus diverting their attention."
He paused, observing Count Yuris's reaction, and seeing that the other party did not object, he continued:
"At that very moment, our small force, which had been lying in ambush beneath the city walls, burst into the city through the previous breach. Their mission was singular: to seize the city gates. Once the gates opened, our main force could advance unimpeded and take Rona in one fell swoop!"
General Laban's plan sounded logically sound and interconnected.
The other generals in the tent listened and their eyes showed thoughtful expressions, as if they felt that the plan was somewhat feasible.
However, after listening, Count Yuris shook his head, a dismissive smile on his face.
"General Laban, your plan sounds good."
He spoke slowly and deliberately.
"But the chances of success are too low."
He held up one finger and began to analyze:
"First, how can we ensure that the small detachments we send out will not be discovered by the garrison? Although there are gaps in the walls of Rona, there are definitely heavy troops guarding the vicinity of those gaps. Under the cover of night, they might be able to get close, but to sneak silently under the walls without being detected is almost an impossible task."
"The second and most important point."
Count Eurysthenes' tone became stern.
"Have you considered our soldiers' night combat capabilities? How many of our soldiers can accurately identify friend from foe in the pitch black of night, and maintain formation and combat effectiveness? I'm afraid that, without the defenders even lifting a finger, they will collapse from panic and chaos! Night combat will reduce our army's overall combat effectiveness by at least half!"
The generals nodded in agreement. Count Yuris's analysis was not without merit. Night combat was too difficult and risky. Visibility was obstructed, orders were difficult to transmit, and it was easy to cause friendly fire and confusion.
General Laban's plan, though ingenious, was far too risky to execute.
General Laban was rendered speechless by Count Yuris's words. He opened his mouth as if to argue, but in the end, he said nothing.
He knew that the Earl was right; the disadvantages of fighting at night were a fatal flaw he could not avoid.
Count Yuris felt a sense of satisfaction seeing General Laban speechless.
His true intentions were never any clever schemes or tricks.
What he wanted was to crush them squarely and with absolute power.
He wanted the White Dragon Knights to be the main force, launching a frontal assault on Rona City, so that everyone would see that it was his knights who had captured this formidable city for the kingdom.
Therefore, he was undoubtedly the one who deserved the greatest credit for capturing the city of Rhône.
"So, my opinion is..."
Count Euryss raised his voice and looked around.
"We shouldn't pin our hopes on such an unrealistic plan. We should regroup, continue the bombardment relentlessly, widen the breach in the walls, and then send the White Dragon Knights as the vanguard for a frontal assault! Let's show those Yoda Empire bastards what despair truly means!"
His words were full of confidence and arrogance. In his view, the White Dragon Knights were the epitome of invincibility. He believed that the previous bombardment was insufficient and the White Dragon Knights had not been able to unleash their full potential. He thought that as long as they went out, there would be no city they could not conquer.
The generals inside the tent all wore complex expressions upon hearing the words "White Dragon Knights".
There was envy, jealousy, and helplessness among them; they all knew that Count Yuris was trying to claim all the credit for himself.
But there was nothing he could do. His brother was the King of Midland, and the King of Midland only had one daughter. If he died, the throne would either pass to Yuri or his son. To talk back to him was tantamount to not wanting to advance one's own career.
Just when Count Yuris thought he had convinced everyone and was about to issue the next battle order, General Laban spoke up again.
"My Lord Count."
General Laban's voice was not loud, but it was unusually firm.
"I admit that my plan is risky. However, one team has succeeded with the plan I'm talking about."
The order that Count Yuris was about to give was abruptly cut off.
He frowned, looking at General Laban with some displeasure.
"Oh?"
He dragged out the tone.
"General Laban, what do you mean by that? Do you think my White Dragon Knights are inferior to the force you're talking about?"
His tone carried a hint of sarcasm and anger. The White Dragon Knights were the kingdom's elite, his pride, and he would never allow anyone to question their fighting prowess.
General Laban shook his head, meeting Count Yuris's gaze, and said, word by word:
“My lord, that’s not what I meant. I just meant that there is a group that may not be as invincible as the White Dragon Knights on the front lines, but under the cover of night, they can unleash unimaginable fighting power.”
“Previously, when we attacked a town near the territory of Rona, we successfully carried out a night raid. In that operation, they only sent less than three hundred men, but in one night, they took out all the outposts outside the fortress and successfully opened the gates of the town for us.”
"If it weren't for them, we would probably have spent much more time and manpower in the town."
"Then I'd like to see which team you're talking about?"
Count Eurys asked dismissively.
"This is a mercenary group we employ, called the Eagle Band."
Laban replied.